Liberty Minute October 16 2013

In Washington, D.C., a city abounding in ominous bureaucratic acronyms, the agency known as the OFAC ? the Office of Foreign Assets Control ? is both largely unknown, and utterly terrifying. Headquartered in a building across from the White House, the OFAC administers the US government?s global system of economic sanctions.

The agency, which is populated largely by former federal prosecutors, actually writes the sanctions legislation that they enforce. More than 5,500 people, organizations, and businesses are listed by the agency as ?Specially Designated Nationals,? or SDNs. This status means being cut off from contact with the US financial system and effective banishment from the global economy.

SDNs include both foreign nationals and US citizens. Merely having a business meeting with a representative of a banned business or organization is enough to earn an individual a spot on the list. This can mean the immediate seizure of bank accounts and other assets, without explanation ? let alone due process.

The OFAC also plays a key role in international sanctions, like those that led to the death of a half-million Iraqi children during the 1990s.

Significantly, the OFAC has not been affected by the so-called government shutdown. The Regime?s punitive politburo, apparently, is an essential institution.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.